GRAPEVINE, Texas, Oct. 18, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The perception of what is "valuable" in any particular therapy can vary widely between providers, patients and payers, according to panelists at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Foundation's 7th Annual Research Symposium.

More than 170 health care thought leaders from across the country gathered for the half-day event on "Value-Based Health Care: Identifying Benefits for Patients, Providers and Payers." The diverse experts shared their views on identifying and utilizing value to improve care.

"Those of us involved in value formulations need to recognize that our perspective is not the only perspective, that decisions are made by a variety of stakeholders and gatekeepers, and they all have their own inherent value equations," said symposium moderator Clifford Goodman, PhD, Senior Vice President and Director, Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research at The Lewin Group. "If I'm ignoring those perspectives, then my value calculus is going to be suboptimal."

The symposium was held Oct. 16 as a preconference to the AMCP Nexus 2017 conference, held Oct. 17-19 at the Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention Center, Grapevine, Texas.

"Value in health care is a vital topic, and our presenters shared various perspectives of this concept beyond costs," says Paula J. Eichenbrenner, CAE, Executive Director, AMCP Foundation. "The patient perspective is of particular importance in the value debate. Indeed, recognizing and integrating patient perspectives into value assessments should enable pharmaceutical manufacturers, providers, health plans and payers to develop and deliver products and services with a higher value to society."

Delivering the keynote address was well-known patient advocate Alan Balch, PhD, CEO of the Patient Advocate Foundation. His talk included discussions on creating a holistic approach to patient care; determining patient priorities and their value; and building understanding and acceptance of patient values with payers and policy-makers. The agenda also featured panel discussions on topics such as patient engagement, consumer priorities and the provider and payer perspectives on value-based care

The symposium included presentation of an AMCP Foundation Best Poster Award for the most highly rated research abstract in value-based health care. Ten individuals also received scholarships to attend the Symposium, thanks to the support from Amgen, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., National Pharmaceutical Council, Pfizer, Inc., and QuintilesIMS. For more information, visit www.amcp.org/2017Fdn_Symp/.